Ruth Schiffmann is a graduate of The Institute of Children’s Literature.  She lives with her husband and two daughters on Cape Cod, where she is a stay at home, homeschooling mom.  Her stories and articles for children, teens, and adults have been published both in print and online.   

 

 

Don’t Fall Head Over Heels on the First Draft

By

Ruth Schiffmann

 

     It’s Monday morning. Your six year old gets dressed and ready to catch the bus. You pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich into her SpongeBob lunchbox and send her off to high school- - err. Wait. That can’t be right.

     It’s Sunday afternoon. The in-laws have come to visit. The perfect meal is in the oven- turkey, stuffing, and all the fixings. Okay, it’s only been cooking for an hour, but you’re ready to get your guests in and out in a hurry. Take off the foil, brown her up and get that turkey on a serving platter. Ugh – no. That can’t be good.

     Another Saturday night and you’re waiting tables. You’ve served and smiled until you think you’ll never smile again. There’s a party of twelve in the banquet room and you feel a big tip coming. Sure they’re only on drinks and appetizers but you go over with an extra basket of bread and ask for your tip up front. Ridiculous! Yet how many of us, in eagerness, have rushed a story off to market before its time?

     It’s easy to get caught up in the anticipation of making a sale. But when you rush a piece off to an editor too soon, you’re doing yourself an injustice. You don’t want to exhaust your list of potential markets on a less-than-best manuscript.  No matter how happy you are with a manuscript, it can usually be improved upon. The trick is in hanging onto the piece until it’s really ready but recognizing when it’s time to let go.

     There’s a difference between listening to your doubts and listening to your gut. Your doubts keep you from acting. Your gut leads you to the right act. Doubts say This will never be ready. Who do you think you are? You can’t finish this. Your gut says, Don’t rush it. Give me a little more time. It’s almost there. Trusting your gut is good. Learning to love each stage in the writing process is even better.

     The creative process is exciting. We all love it when we hit that stride; the concept is solid, the words are flowing straight down from heaven, the story has taken on a life of its own. It’s magical. But the danger is falling in love with your words on the first draft.  Before you even think about submitting, get your head out of the clouds long enough to do some honest critiquing. You can’t afford to skip over the necessary (and rewarding) steps of revision and polishing.

1.  Look for repeated words. With over a million words in the English language, and a thesaurus a mouse-click away, there’s no excuse for unnecessary repetition.
2. Avoid clichés. Familiar descriptions in a rough draft are one thing, but they shouldn’t make it past your first edit. During revisions take the time to dig for just the right combination of words to uniquely convey your ideas.
3. Be careful of awkward shifts in your point of view. As the creator of all the characters in your story it’s easy to insert a thought from the point of view of a secondary character unintentionally. Do a separate read through specifically to check for POV constancy throughout your story.
4. Adhere to word limits. It’s hard enough to find markets. Don’t blow it by missing the mark on word count.
5. Smooth the way for your readers to get lost in your words. Don’t let jarring tense problems jolt the reader from the story world. A special edit for tense continuity is always a good idea.
6. Watch that verbosity. Use adverbs and adjectives sparingly. It’s easy to use too many, but much more effective to use only a few.

     Think of revision as the dating process. Spend a lot of time with this ‘love’ of yours. The more you get to know your story, the better you’ll be able to recognize things that just don’t feel right. Perhaps a sentence that is too flowery, a word that is too mature for your target audience, short, choppy sentences that could be combined for a better rhythm, an idea that need only be implied for better dramatic effect.

     On the first date, you may think you’ve found Mr. Right. By the second, third, fourth date you start to see the quirks that make your manuscript unique. But the more time you spend, the clearer it becomes that some of these quirks are flaws that, once smoothed out will only improve the flow and professionalism in your writing. Don’t rush through the getting –to- know- you process.

     Once you’ve gone over your manuscript for flow, reviewed each of the items in the checklist above, formatted properly, and made sure your piece is on target for a specific market your doubts won’t have a foothold. If the voice you hear is specific, that sentence in the third paragraph just isn’t right, that’s your gut. Address the issue at hand and move on. If the voice is a generic, what if it’s not good enough, you can silence it by running down your checklist and assuring yourself that you’ve done everything possible towards making a good impression. All that’s left is to send your manuscript into the world of editors and hope for an acceptance.

     The revisions process is like polishing silver; there’s plenty of tarnish to rub off long after you start seeing the shine. Don’t settle for a duller impression. The more elbow grease you put into the job, the more radiant the finished product will be. But no one polishes without knowing that the piece is going to be admired by others.  The balance comes in knowing when to put away the polishing cloth and show your craft to the world. Shine on!